A Payday Re-telling
by Overated Insanity
Summary: A re-telling of the heists from Payday 2 with four OC's I made, with a little character development in between heists. Rated M for violence (That you'd expect from a shooting game) and language.
1. Stockholm Syndrome Sort of

It was kind of like Stockholm Syndrome… Sort of. Anyways, it was a simple bank hit for Vlad on a Monday, Payday being today. Get in, drill the vault, grab the cash and run. Maybe I was reckless maybe it was a fuck up, either way nobody got too hurt. Except for a mild electrical burn… It was my job to go out back and get the thermal drill out of the truck. While I picked the side door and got in behind the Teller's counter Andy would walk in the front door and place an ECM Jammer in the middle if the lobby. An Electronic Countermeasure Jammer would shut off the security cameras and stop the guard inside the security room from calling for help. At the same time Terra would come in on the back side of the bank and place another Jammer down in the offices. I would place my ECM Jammer by the door and hopefully cut off any non-guard resistance, then while those two pick off security and keep the civies in check I would plant the drill on the vault and grab any loose cash along the way, easy. Well it wasn't…

"Alright," Bain said. "The thermal drill is parked around back. You kids do your thing, and don't screw up." I walked for the truck; I put on my mask and cut the fence to get around the side. "Jack, get your mask on and grab the drill, then get that door open." Andy said, strolling casually in through the front door. We all wore a lightweight vest under our suits; we could move quickly and conceal it without sacrificing all protection. "Alright, I'm here." Terra said. "Wait… Is the door already open? Wha-" "Hey, what are you doing here?" I stopped for a moment; a voice that nobody knew was probably not a good sign. I heard a quick smack which could have been good or bad thing. "What was that?" Andy asked trying to sound subtle from inside. "Terra?" I asked. "It's all good." She said after a worrying silence. "What happened?" I asked. Another short silence "Yeah, they are." "Terra, what the hell are you talking about?" Andy asked. "Uh huh. Yep. You too, bye." She concluded. "Careful guys the guards are carrying pagers; don't forget to answer if you kill someone. I'm going inside."

I slung the orange duffle bag over my shoulder and walked back over to the bank, it only took me a second to pick the cheap lock on the door and get inside. "Ready." I said. "Ready." Terra agreed. I heard gunshots and screaming. "This is a robbery, nobody move! Get on your knees!" Andy yelled. I primed my ECM Jammer, and stuck it to the door. "ECM's up!" I yelled. "ECM's up." Terra and Andy called back. "Jack, we're taking hostages, set up the drill!" Terra called. "I'm on it." "Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt." Andy said tying the civilians down with cable ties. "The first person seen with a cellphone, gets shot. The first person who tries to leave the building, gets shot. Otherwise, we are all friends here. I lined the drill with the weak spots on the bank vault; so far everything was going well. "Don't forget to tie down the Tellers, when you're done." Andy said. "I got it." I said screwing the fuel can into the drill. Suddenly the alarm began blaring and when I turned around the Bandit Barriers on the Teller's counter shut up tight. "Should I have done that first?"

Now we were in trouble because there was an alarm going off and the police were definitely on their way. Andy ran and kicked the metal doors on the with Teller's booth. "Open the fucking door!" "Jack?" Terra yelled. I ran and slid to the door on the side. "I got it, get behind me!" Andy stood behind me with a Remington 870, and Terra with a Colt Commando. This lock took a little longer than the last, but eventually popped. When I tried to open the door it felt like it was barricaded, I gave the door a push and knocked the Teller who was blocking it to ground. "You fucking animals!" She yelled. "Bitch, are you crazy?" Andy said pointing his gun at the old woman. "I got this! Just check the drill and wait for the police." I said. The woman fought all the way through me tying her down despite me promising not to hurt her. "Sharon, stop." Her collogue told her. I finished tying her down, and moved to the man. "Put your hands behind your back." I said surprised how well he listened. "How can you surrender to these… these pigs?!" The lady yelled, still tied up. "Sharon stop." He repeated. "They're not going to hurt us." I could hear police cars outside the bank. "Uh, Jack… Come quick." Terra yelled.

I met her and Andy by the door and saw five cars parked out front. "Come out with your hands in the air, you're surrounded." A cop yelled. "Should we listen?" I asked jokingly. Andy chuckled. "I'd shoot you in the back on your way out." A shatter came from the offices on the other side of the building. "They're coming for the hostages." Terra yelled taking off. "Hold there!" The radio chirped in my ear. "SWAT chopper coming on the roof, guys. The roof." Bain said. Andy and I looked at each other then he ran off into the stairwell. "I'll hold down here!" I called. "Copy that!" A gunshot came far too close to my head and I scuttled to cover. I still had an H&K 416 and a Springfield 1911 operator; I checked my ammo and started shooting back through the front door. "Terra, you good?" I yelled. "Yes. Small hostage rescue team, they pulled back for now." She said shooting at the cops across the street. Andy started running back down the stairs, and to me. "I've got it here. Go to the parking lot and get some boards for the windows!" I nodded and ran out the door I came in through.

I didn't think to look before I left the cover of the of brick wall hanging out from the bank. By the time I realized, I was already dodging bullets across the parking lot. The boards were on the other side of the parking lot behind a blue dumpster. I had too many close calls making it to the dumpster, but I had arrived fine enough. I ducked down behind the dumpster and grabbed as many boards as I could hold and ran back for the bank, I had made it halfway back and I was behind the cover of the brick wall again, when an enemy in a SWAT suit had jumped on top, of me tackling to the ground. I reached for my gun but couldn't find it while my face was buried in the pavement. "Hands behind your back! Hands behind your back!" He yelled, then I heard gunshots, and his body felt lighter on top of mine. Terra had pushed the body off of me, and pulled me to my feet. "Get up, there's no time." She took half the boards and ran back to her side of the bank. I crouched next to Andy in the lobby. "You good?" I asked. "Yes." He shot back across the street, out the front entrance. "Take this, open the security room. There's probably a guy on there." He said handing me a red and blue keycard.

"Where is it?" I asked. "Go past Terra, in the stairwell, big steel door!" He yelled amidst the gunfire." I ran around the corner to the offices and into the stairwell. There it was a big steel door that said Gensec Security. I placed the keycard in and the door opened, a security guard jumped and grabbed at my face. I threw him against the wall and head butted him, he stumbled back and I shot him. I could see camera feed, which meant the ECM's batteries were dead by now. I saw a SWAT unit approaching the window to Andy's right, while he was boarding a window in the lobby. "Andy! Window, right side!" He stepped back and shot the enemy as he came through the window. Terra was boarding a window in the offices, I saw a good strategic position using the cubicles as cover. "Terra, step back!" she looked around, confused and backed against the wall. "Look right!" I yelled, the way the windows went around the corner allowed her to stand in between the barricaded windows, while stopping Andy from getting flanked. "Board that window!"

"I'm pinned!" yelled Andy from the lobby. I looked at the cameras, Andy had been pushed around the corner so he was standing back to back with Terra, and he couldn't get back around. I ran out into the copy room which connected the back of the offices to the lobby again, which would allow me to effectively flank him while he was attacking Andy. It would have worked too, if he hadn't heard me coming and met me at the doorway. I ran right past him, and he shot me in the back with stun gun. At first it just felt like a pinch, when the small barb had imbedded itself into my hip. Then there was the "Shocking" part. I dropped like a wet bag of rocks, and began convulsing. I don't remember seeing anything while I was on the ground, but I felt like I was pissing **and** puking, although I was told I didn't actually do either.

My vision finally cleared and I could see, but I was very numb and I couldn't move. The cop kicked off my mask and put a shotgun against my head. "I'll kill him! Put the goddamn guns down, or I'll kill him!" He yelled. I could tell he was panicking while Andy and Terra were very calm. "We're going to have to make a compromise," Andy said. "He's the reason you're still alive, kill him and we won't be happy." I tried to keep my eyes straight ahead there was young girl about Andy's age, so maybe two years younger than me sitting on the floor, her hands were tied and she was sitting against the counter. She had blonde hair with brown streaks, and very alert but not scared eyes. She seemed oddly calm for someone in her situation. Her eyes held mine for a few seconds until they drifted down to my pistol, which was on the floor behind the cop, whose back was turned to her. Her eyes met mine again, and she inched forwards toward the gun. Kept my eyes on her as Andy and Terra argued with the cop who was still very panicked.

She inched forward one last time kicking my gun in between the cop's legs I grabbed and it with one hand and the barrel of the shotgun with the other. I pushed the shotgun away from me, and the cop jumped causing the gun to go off dangerously close to my face. I shot three times at his crotch, until the slide fell open. He staggered back and Terra shot him in the head killing him. "Are you okay?" Andy asked helping me onto my feet. "I'm good." I coughed. "Holy hell, Tasers hurt." The cops started sending another wave towards the front door, and the sounds of a chopper got extremely close. "Heli's gonna land on the roof, I got it." I said running for the stairwell. "Are you sure you're able?" Andy asked trying to hold the lobby. "I should shoot you just for asking that." I said already on my way. I got onto the roof just in time, what looked like a Blackhawk hovered over the roof, with SWAT units roping down from the chopper. I ducked behind and AC unit and waited for a break in their firing, then I stood up and shot. I repeated until four became three, three became two, two became one, and one became zero. I turned back towards the stairwell, to head back down and was met by Terra. "What are you doing?" I asked. "There was too many. And's still down there. What do we do?" She asked. "We hold the stairs, and then push back to Andy."

We managed to get back to the staircase until a Riot shield ran into me. I pushed Terra back up the steps. "Flank him!" Terra ran back up the stairs, and he attempted to charge me. I bashed the front of his shield back the first time staggering him, but I was WAY out-skilled. He was ready to charge again until Terra shot him in the back from above. The shield was gone, but we still had to get past the SWAT to get to Andy. "Andy? Are you still with us, brother?" I called. "Yes. I-" He was cut off by the sound gunfire and didn't respond, that was our sign to hurry up. We managed to push as hard as we could but by the time we got from the stairwell to the offices they were dragging Andy out the door. "Andy? ANDY?" I screamed. "We lost Andy, Bain."

"I know. I'm trying to get him back, hold on." Bain sighed. We managed to push to the front of the offices, and the lobby was clear. "What now?" Terra asked. I looked around, hoping to catch my bearings. It didn't work. "Hold the same position in the office; we wait for Bain to do his thing." I said shooting ahead. I was starting to think we were screwed…

"They want a hostage trade." Bain said. "A what?" I puffed trying not to get shot, or have an asthma attack. "A trade. They'll trade a hostage for Andy." I ducked and stopped shooting, the police did too. "Terra, don't shoot!" I yelled. The shooting had stopped completely. "Bring one hostage to the front and we will give you back your man!" The police had called. I pointed to the girl, the one who had saved me. "Bring her to me." This was good, her and I were even. Terra had given me the girl and I walked her to the door, using her as a shield. "Nobody knows what I did?" She asked nervously. "Nobody besides us," I said. "We're even." Once we got to the front door I hid around the corner and held her wrists, so she wouldn't run. The police had Andy across the road. "Release the girl on three!" The cop yelled. "One… Two… Three" Andy walked back and ducked behind the door frame with me. "So how are we going to end this?" The cop yelled. Terra shot back first, and the fighting continued. "Yo, thanks man." Andy sighed. I handed him my pistol, still carrying my primary weapon. "I got you, brother."

The vault door was finally done drilling and it came open, only to reveal a safety gate. "Shit, we have to drill again." Andy growled. Terra unloaded the bag she had been carrying over her shoulder. "No time." She said unloading two C4. "Cover me." She said placing the C4 on the safety gate while we held the police off of her. "Get back!" She said ducking behind a wall. Andy and I jumped behind a shelf full of checks. The safety gate exploded allowing access to the vault. Andy laughed. "Woo, finally!" "Sweet, sweet victory!" I sang running into the vault with my friends. "Bag as much money as you carry." I yelled filling my duffel bag with cash. "Alright, the van's at the end of the road, around the corner!" Andy yelled. "Move together. We get there as a team, or we don't get back at all."

We left the building through the door on the side where I came in, and fought the police and SWAT to the fence where I came in. We ducked behind a car, on the other side. "Okay. Jack, move the first bag to the other side of the street, we'll cover you. Andy said. "They'll tear me apart." I said. "Are you crazy?" "Strafe right, and shoot on three. We'll try to cover you, Hon." Terra said blind firing over the car. "One… Two… Three!" Andy yelled as he stuck his head up, and began shooting. I ran across the street dodging gunshots, and ducked behind a taxi cab across the street. I dropped the duffel bag of cash behind the car. "Terra, throw me your loot! I yelled. She tried to wing the heavy bag across the street, but it only made it halfway. "Do we leave it?" I asked. "No, cover me!" Andy yelled running across the street, without any warning. Terra and I leaned out of cover and shot at the cops, hoping to distract them. Andy ran across, and when he got to Terra's bag he threw his own **from **the middle of the street to me, and grabbed the other bag and ran to me. I kept shooting knowing Terra would soon have to cross over to us.

"I'm coming!" Terra yelled running after us as Andy and I covered her. She crouched down next to us, and grabbed the third bag. "Okay. We're on the right side of the road; we just need to get to the van." I said. "Any ideas?" Andy was watching the police resistance very carefully. "Stay together but don't cluster up guys, walk backwards. Jack on the right, Terra on the left!" We all walked backwards and shot, to keep the police suppressed while we went for the van. As amazing as it was, we all made it to the van, we loaded our loot, and Terra and I jumped in the back, while Andy got in the passenger's seat. "We did it, guys." "We better get a bonus for that. Intense as hell." I said. Terra laughed. "I thought 'Intense' was you middle name?" I sighed. "Actually, it's Michael." Everybody made it out alive with our cash and little did we know, a new friend.


	2. Botching and Entering

We went from "Breaking and entering" to "Botching and entering" Courtesy of yours truly… Jack I mean. It was routine, although that meant nothing after our last "Routine job." Anyways, one of Vlad's rivals from Old Country was getting married. He gave his bride an exquisite foreign tiara, although Vlad had the money to hire the best, he wanted to see his rival's marriage crumble before it even began. Jack and I were to sneak in to the back room of the jewelry store, while he picked the safe I would watch for civilians and guards. We decided to leave Andy outside because as good of a fighter as he was, he was also like a bull-moose in a China shop. The guys sat across from me in the van, Andy was looking at the store on his computer, and Jack was playing with his new hairdo. It was the first time I had seen Jack with short since we met but he seemed easily distracted by this. "Hey, sexy beast? You there?" I asked. He looked up. "What? Yeah, were you talking to me?" I laughed. "I said are we going through left side, or the right?" "Oh yeah," He said. "We're going to start left, so we can quietly pick off security and go clockwise around the building, then we'll open the window and check both back rooms for the safe containing the tiara." "And if you guys run into trouble I'll be behind the store, to back you two up." Andy tapped away on his computer. Andy had been upgraded from a lightweight vest under his suit to a slightly bigger one over it, since he was avoiding the sneaking.

The van stopped. "Get out, everybody. Remember, we're in the middle of the city, try not to get the police too early." The driver said, he was a new guy but he thought he knew what he was doing. "Stealthy is my middle name." Jack said stepping out of the van. "I thought it was Michael?" I asked. "I thought it was intense." Andy added. "Whatever. You're with me Terra." I followed, Jack into the alley. He put on his mask and pulled out his pistol, he had fitted with a suppressor. I had one too but I hoped not to use it. There was an old shipping container against the west wall of the store, he turned and pointed to it. "The other side of this is the second place we'll hit looking for Vlad's tiara, the other is straight across, on the east side." I nodded. "What kind of resistance in the back?" He scoffed." Two guards, three civvies, and two safes at the most." I nodded again. "Cameras?" Jack thought. "One is on the other side of this container, one in the hall between rooms." We were talking and a guard walked around the corner noticed me.

Jack ducked behind the container unseen, and I hid my gun behind my back "What are you doing here, you can't be back here." He said. "But… Uh… Can't I cross to the next road over from here?" He shook his head. "No. The alleys are fenced off; this is only open for maintenance reasons. You can head back onto the street though and walk around the corner." He said. Jack signaled for me to come closer. "Oh. Well I-" I ducked behind the container next to Jack and he raised his gun. "Ma'am?" The guard asked. "I know you're there Ma'am… I-I just watched you step behind there…" I didn't say anything hoping he would come closer "Ma'am, could you please just go to the street and walk down the road, to Madison ave?" Jack jumped out and smacked him in the side of the head with his pistol, the guard was unconscious and I heard a slight buzzing. "Pager!" I whispered urgently. "What was that noise?" the Pager Operator asked. Jack leaned over the body. "I stepped on a magnet and started making a static noise?" He said imitating the southern accent of the guard "And you made a noise?" The operator asked. "It was in my ear," Jack said. "I was surprised, sir." There was a moment of silence. "Yeah, it was probably just interference. Let me know if it happens again." Jack nodded. "Yes sir." He got up and continued towards the entry point. "Nice accent." I said. He turned and tipped an imaginary hat. "Why thank you, little lady." We were about to go in when we ran straight into another guard, he pulled gun but I grabbed my mine first and shot him. Luckily as I said, we both had suppressors. What was that?" A different page operator called. Jack pointed towards the guard's body, "What? You do it." I said. "They just heard my voice, go." He whispered shoving me closer.

"Hey, please pick up the pager." The operator called. "Hey." I said. "Is everything alright?" He asked. "Some sort of interference, it was very loud on my end." "Yeah." He sighed. "The same thing just happened to that colored kid from your branch, Josh right?" "I-I think so…" I said. The operator laughed. "Thomas told me his birthday is coming this week; don't forget to get a card, or something." "Yeah. I will." I said hanging up the pager. "Don't worry," Jack said. He'll be awake by his birthday. Let's go. We passed the glass window and ducked to avoid being seen by the guard inside. "There's the safe." Jack whispered. There it was, sitting on the shelf, just out of reach. Jack began picking the lock on the glass window. "How hard?" I whispered. He smirked. "You really want to know?" "The lock you, asshole." He chuckled. "Not hard at all… In fact… we're… done." The window popped open and we were free to go in. Ladies first?" I asked quite proud of myself. "Ladies first?" He said mockingly, crawling through the window.

It looked like we were in a conference room; there was only one exit besides the window, so hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to watch. "Watch the door. I'll get the safe." Jack whispered creeping to the stand in the corner. I stood against the doorway waiting; I managed to eavesdrop on the talking in the office right next to us, the sounds of transactions in the store. "Suckers." Jack whispered. "Have you seen the prices here?" "Bad?" I guessed. "Jesus Christ, you'll never see me making a legal transaction here. That's to say the least." I laughed. "Shh. Quiet." A guard had just about walked into me; I shot him in the head, and laid his body behind Jack. "Nice." He whispered. "Shh." I repeated. "Did you hear that?" Said a voice in the next room over. "Yeah," Said another voice. "Sounds like security knocked something over." "Huh, better not be anything of mine." The first voice said. Jack pushed up on the lock and it turned just like a key. "That was harder then I though…" He whispered. "Tiara?" I said excitedly. He just shook his head and pointed to the computer across the room. "Cameras." I nodded and walked over viewing the cameras. Like he said, there was camera right outside the door that we could sneak under, and one in the next room. "There are two civvies, a camera and a safe." I said. Jack looked over my shoulder. "We rush in, you have the people get their hands up, I'll place an ECM Jammer and pick the safe?" He asked. "Sounds like a plan."

We sprinted quickly passed the door to the store and under the first camera. "Put your hands up, both of you and don't say a word!" I whispered quickly. They both dropped to their knees and Jack placed an ECM Jammer under the camera. We tied the civilians down, and Jack went to work on the safe. I bent over, behind the desk to tend to the hostages and I saw feet walk into the room from under the desk. "Crap". I though. "What are you doing?" The guarder said putting a gun against Jack's head. He jumped and snapped his lock pick "Crap…" He whispered. "Stand up." The cop said guiding Jack to his feet, I had to act. I jumped up and shot him but when I did the woman behind the desk ran for the door, I tackled her trying not to hurt her. "Sit the fuck still!" I whispered. I tied her hands to the desk and sat her down. "Stay still, nobody's going to hurt either of you if you comply." I said. They seemed to understand. "How're you doing, kids?" Andy asked at the side of the building." "Two dead guards, and empty, safe and Terra tackled an old lady…" Jack said working on the safe. "We should come back here." Andy said. "There's a lot of loot up here." I scoffed. "One job at a time." "Fuck!" I looked up. "What was that?" Andy asked. "I broke my fucking pick!" Jack growled. "Don't you have more?" I said. "Come here." He gestured. I looked over his shoulder; the pick had broken off inside the lock. "Plan B?" Andy asked. "Plan B." I agreed.

"Andy, go around to the east side, and bring the drill to the open window." I said crossing the hall to where we came in from. "Isn't this going to make a little noise?" He asked handing me the drill. "Hopefully not too much…" I said. "Just be quick," He said. "And cautious." I nodded and headed back to Jack. "Let's be quick with this." I said. He installed this drill, we both turned to watch the door while the drill ran; about two minutes had gone by when I heard a voice around the corner. "It's in the back." Isn't the manager in there, with her husband?" "I'm not sure…" I looked to Jack. "Guards!" He whispered. We got prepared to jump the guard when he came in the room. He turned into the room and we were standing face to face, Jack shot him and his body fell out the door. We thought we were good until we heard the blood curdling scream. "Call the police! Call the police!" We ran out just in time to hear the alarm go off. "Get on the floor!" Jack yelled. "Andy, plan C!" Andy came through the door with my rifle in one hand, and Jack's in the other. "Plan B didn't last very long, now did it?" Nah, it wouldn't be a challenge anyways." I said taking my gun. "Police are on the way!" Jack yelled. "How much time is on the drill?" I asked. He ran off into the back room. "I'll find out!"

"You and I hold off the police!" Andy said. "Okay!" Right on time the first responders pulled up outside the store. This was supposed to be easier!" I said shooting at them." Jack ran up next to us and began shooting. "120 Seconds and we're out of here" "You here that?" I said to the driver who was parked in the alley across from the store. "We'll be there in two minutes." "I'll try to wait." He said. "As long as the heat doesn't come at me." "It won't come to that." I said. Luckily these guys weren't that tough and we'd be out of her by the time the big guys got here. "Smash the display cases. We're not leaving empty handed." I said. "Grab as much jewelry as you can. We loaded as much jewelry in our pockets and in a bag over our shoulders as we could, these bags were way lighter than the money we carried from the bank, which means we could move faster.

There was a loud snap from the back room. "Drill's done!" Jack said on the way back to the office. He came running out stuffing the tiara in his bag. "Let's go!" We ran out of the store for the van, but when we got close the gunshots from pistols and shotguns began hitting the van. "I got to go." The driver said. "I'll be back once the police calm down a little. "What? No." I said while running. "We're right here!" It was too late; the van took off leaving us stranded. "What the fuck?!" Andy screamed. "Back to the store!" Jack yelled heading back. We dove behind the counter dodging bullets. "What the hell are you doing? Get back her!" I yelled. "No can do. Get rid of the police and I'll come back." The driver said over the radio. "This is why you don't hire a rookie." Jack said calmly. "Bain, do something." I said. We had to fight off the police while we waited. Now they were starting to send armored units "Light vests, MP5s." Jack said. "Aim for the head." Andy added. "When this guy gets back, I'm going to wring his neck." I said. We picked off a few troops in light armor, they weren't a huge problem. "It's a trap." Bain said quickly. "What?" I asked. "I'm listening to their radios, they're sending heavily armored units in behind you. "I got this." I said running to the back room where we came in.

I came in too fast and got jumped by a bulldozer who bashed me in the face with his shotgun. "I got one!" He said pointing his shotgun in my face. For a moment I thought I was going to die, my whole life flashed before my eyes. He lifted his gun and Jack ran in and body slammed him out of the way, causing him to stumble back. Jack pulled of his helmet and shot him in the head. "I am the Juggernaut!" He yelled. I pulled myself to my feet. "Yeah… Thanks, Juggernaut." He handed me my bag. "Shake it off, girl." I nodded. "This gun is crap, I think I need an upgrade." "We both do." He said. "Escapes here," Bain said. It's time to go." "Agreed." Andy said. We both joined Andy in the front of the store, and I could hear the van down the road, suddenly it pulled up to the store and screeched to a stop. "Get in." The driver yelled through the gunfire. Nobody wanted to be here this long, in the first place. We all jumped in the back and got settled in. "I'm getting our crazy Russian friend on the phone. Good job guys" Bain said. I punched Jack's shoulder. "Good job, Intense." "My friends!" Vlad yelled. "You have made me very happy! I knew I could trust you with this! Dmitri will be nagged by bitch wife forever, huh? Ahah!" Good work." He said. "I guess that meant we are done. When I get tiara, you get money." "Also, you kids bring all the spare jewelry you guys grabbed, and I'll get it sold in a heartbeat." Bain said.


	3. Familiar Faces

Let's just say seeing a familiar face in public is weird enough, worse when it's "That" face… Everyone had told me I needed to get out of the house a little after the incident at the bank, I didn't understand it. I wasn't hurt. Mind you there were a lot of deaths, but I was perfectly fine. Anyways, I had to get my laundry done at least, so I decided to go to the Laundromat for the day. After I had done my first load I noticed the women at counter was looking at me strange, I didn't make eye contact the first time so it wasn't necessary to acknowledge her. Then I noticed her looking at me a second time. I looked around, none of the other employees were looking at me but I had made eye contact with her so I had no choice but to smile and acknowledge her, she smiled back and continued writing in the ledger on the counter. It was very strange to me but I guess she could have been bored, sitting at the counter all day, no big deal.

Then a man walked into the Laundromat, he strolled to the middle of the building with a kazoo between his teeth and began playing fanfare. "Employees," He said. "I'm sorry if I have bothered anyone, arriving in less than professional attire, but I came to tell you all that due a booming increase in income for the Laundro-Mart, any of our employees that have been with us for three months, since opening will receive a raise." He must have been the owner; he didn't strike me as the business type, he was rather young to own a business. His definition of "Unprofessional" was a grey T-shirt with an eagle and an American flag and blues jeans. He had dirty-blonde hair, shaved on the sides and spiked and brushed to one side on top, standard glasses with black frames, and a few scars across his face. "All employees who have not will also receive this raise after one year from the day they began working here. That is all." He walked over to the woman at the counter, they must have been friends because they both laughed and hugged. The man took a look at the ledger over the woman's shoulder and patted her on the back. I decided to go over, so I could see if this man was really who I thought he was.

"Hello?" I said. They both looked up at me. "Hello." The man said. "Can I help you?" I nodded "Yes sir, washer 2 doesn't seem to be working, is there anything you can do to fix it?" He nodded "Terra, could you please go check on washer 2 and see what this issue is?" The girl, Terra looked up from the ledger, her name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember where from. "I'll take a look," She said. "Can you do the ledger for me?" The owner nodded and began writing in the large book, and Terra headed over to the broken washer. "Is there anything else I can do for you, to make your experience at Laundro-Mart more enjoyable?" He asked. I was certain it was him. He had gotten his hair cut and he was wearing glasses, but that didn't cover up the same face I saw at the bank. Same calm brown eyes, same scars on his face. "Jack?" I asked. He looked at me, at first a little confused that I knew his name. "Yes, Ma'am?" He asked. "Did you go to school here?" I said. "I think I know you from high school."

Now he looked very confused, but he still had the same 'laxed attitude. "I did, what's your name again?" He asked trying to play along. "I'm Kristen." I said." "Kristen? Yes, I remember you. How have been?" I shrugged. "I'm good." Terra had come back, from fixing the washer. "Terra, do you know who this is?" Jack asked. She looked at me then looked around a bit. "Uh…" "It's Kristen," He explained. "From high school." Terra had obviously not picked up on what we were saying, because she looked deathly confused "But we didn't-" "Terra, can't you remember?" He asked. I felt really bad; I haven't seen someone this confused in a while. "I was Andy's friend." I added trying to help her. They both got visibly tense at hearing that name. "Who's that?" Jack asked trying to remain calm. "Andy." I said. "About 5"6, deep voice, outgoing type." He shook his head. "You've lost me too, honey. Oh well, we can't keep Terra away from her work. Would you like to come and catch up in my office?" He asked. "Sure." "This way." He said.

We were in Jack's office in the back room when he asked me to sit down. "So how have you been, what have you been doing since high school?" He asked me. "We didn't go to high school." I said. He raised an eyebrow. "I thought that's why we were here?" I shook my head. "Can I ask why then?" He was really trying to play dumb. "I was at the robbery at the bank, so were you." I said. He was very cautious about how he looked at me, he wasn't admitting anything but he wasn't denying it either. "But we had way different roles in the robbery." I explained. "You saved me, I saved you. What else is there to say?" He asked, his professional tone melting to a more casual one. "I want something from you." I said. "Money." "Fuck you." He said. I was surprised, now that we were not discussing The Laundro-Mart he wasn't as servicing to me. "I want money, and I won't turn you, Andy, or Terra in to the police. "Uhm, no" He said. "Did you not see what we did back there? We could make you disappear in a matter of seconds, never to be seen or heard from again." His gave me an intense stare, but I held my ground and stared back. "No you won't, you're too fair to kill me. You feel like you owe me." "I handed you off to police; I don't owe you a thing." He added. "You know? Change of conditions." I said. "What's that?" "Teach me." I said. He busted out laughed. "You think you can just learn to rob banks?" He said. I nodded. "Is this a joke? You don't just wake up one day and decide you want to rob banks." "How did you get into it?" I asked. He scoffed. "You have time for my life story?" "Make it quick."

He sighed "It started in Chicago… A few years ago, I was holding up convince stores with Andy to make a quick buck, and we met a guy who was into 'contracted thievery.' We spent time working with him for a few months, then we met up with Terra. After a little while our guy said he had a lot of contacts in the capital city that required our 'services,' Bain and Andy said we keep it a secret from Terra, pack our bags and go." "But you didn't, because Terra is still with you guys." He nodded. "True, I guess my moral standpoint is too strong." "For a criminal." I added. He looked kind of offended by that word. "I don't think I'm a criminal." He said. "There are two kinds of people, there are criminals and there are people who commit crimes." I tilted my head. "You're a person who commits crimes?" He shrugged. "I think so. We don't hurt people, we don't go on mass shootings or anything, we just further our personal interests." I was starting to understand, but this whole crime thing was looking more complicated by the second. "So I'm not going to kill you, and you're not going to back down…" He said. "This is a problem." I agreed. "Please?" He pleaded. "No." I said. He got out of his seat. "We're going to have a meeting then, come." He said heading out the door.

We passed Terra. "Terra honey, we're going." Jack said. "We?" He nodded. "Ricky, cover for Terra please?" We didn't wait for an answer before we hustled out the door. I left my laundry inside but it didn't matter, I was so excited. This was really happening. "Kristen, can you please wait in the car?" Jack asked unlocking his car. "Uh, sure." I said. It was white 2010 Dodge Charger 4 door. I sat for what felt like forever, Jack was probably explaining everything that had happened in his office, or coming up with places to dump my body. I felt confident, but I had to remember I was still dealing with dangerous criminals… Or "People who commit crimes." Finally they both got into the car. "Can you text Andy and tell him where to meet us?" Terra began texting on Jack's phone. "He wants to know what's up." She said. Jack sighed. "Tell him it's 'work related,' and we'll explain everything when we get there." "Okay. So, Kristen?" She asked. "Yeah?" "How did you decide you want to get into our line of work?" I wasn't sure how to explain, this was actually a really bull-headed idea for me. "I don't know. It just seems interesting to me." Terra nodded. "Have you ever shot a gun, before?" "Yeah," I said. "Shotguns, pistols, and some small rifles. My grandfather thought everyone should know how to shoot." I said. She was about to respond when the phone rang. She answered. "Hey. Yeah… I don't know all the details, Jack said he'll explain when we get there. On the way… I don't- Andy- Andy, I don't know. Andy! You're not listening," She said. "I don't know! Andy stop fucking yelling at me!" She growled. "Here. Here. Here." Jack said taking the phone while driving. "What's up?" Jack asked. "Yeah, just calm down. It's too long to explain, I'll be there by the time I do. Just go, Andy. Andy? Dude, seriously. Cut the bullshit and meet us at the warehouse, I'll explain. Seriously? Fuck you, Andy!" I looked at Terra hoping for an explanation, she just shrugged. "Can you please stop being an ass? Hear me out." Jack said. "Alright. Alright." He hung up and we just kind of drove in silence. "We're here." Jack said pulling over in front of an old warehouse. "Come on." He said.

The inside of the warehouse was large and hollow, it smelled like must and everything was dusty. "Here we are." Terra said. I chuckled. "It's charming." Jack laughed. "It's not our **main **base of operations, but we can't take you there just yet. "So, is he bringing Bain?" Terra asked. Jack sighed. I haven't a clue." "What was his problem? He sounds like a jackass." I asked, Jack agreed. "He is a jackass." Terra sighed. "Jack, stop. Don't make it worse." I'm serious; I've about had it with him. He's acting like a dick." Terra didn't say anything. I heard a large metal door open, then close. "They're here." She said. Two men began walking towards us, one was in thirties, and he must have been the oldest one here. He had long hair, and a wrinkled face, but he looked older than he was. "Hey, kids. I'm sensing a little tension, what's going on?" He said. "We have a problem." Jack answered. "You brought our friend with you?" He asked looking at me. I nodded. "Somebody tell me what the fuck is going." Andy said. He was just like I remembered; he was 5"6 he had a deep voice, only he was a little less outgoing than I remember, and more of an asshole. He had short hair and a thin face, he wore a button up shirt and faded black jeans. Everyone huddled together and began whispering. "No." Andy said. "No. No. No." "Listen!" Jack whispered loudly, as they argued amongst each other. "You know what, screw you! I'm tired of you only looking out for yourself, grow the fuck up!" The two of them were standing nose-and-nose. "Stop." Bain said. "Stop. Stop. Stop!" "Fuck you all!" Andy yelled stomping out of the room. Jack and Bain both followed after him.

"What was that?" I asked. Terra shook her head. "I don't know. Those two were really close when I met them, but now I all they ever do is bicker." Just then Jack and Andy came back escorted by Bain. Andy had a black eye and a busted lip, and Jack had scratches all over his face. "What happened?" Terra asked. Bain pushed Jack forward. "Tell them, Jack." "We're keeping the girl," Jack said sternly. "No questions asked." Andy scoffed, and stomped out of the room again. "God, whatever…" I looked at Terra. "They're like teenage girls. I said. "They're worse than teenage girls…" Bain said. "Welcome aboard, Kristen. Jack will watch over you, and teach you everything you need to know, your first job with us is coming up soon." He said.


	4. Four Stores

It was our first job with Jack's new "Protégé," and I still didn't approve. Our job was to hit some stores that belonged to none other than Vlad's old rival; Dmitri. Dmitri owned four stores right in the same area, much like Jack's Laundromat, the store he owned in Chicago, and my own auto-shop, Dmitri's stores were all for laundering money he gained through illegal work into his income without arousing suspicion. We needed to steal $15,000 worth of valuables from the four different stores, an Apple Store, a P.F Chang's, a convenience store, and a Starbucks. Whatever we else we got was ours, plus the day rate from Vlad. Terra and I would head into P.F Chang's, I would hit the cash registers and look behind the counters for a safe, while Terra would go in the back room and look for valuables there. Across the street, Jack and the new girl, Kristen would go into the Apple store and hit the cash registers, look for safes, and try to grab some electronics. Chances are around that time the police will get a call, so then we will all move on to the next at once, or hit the remaining two at the same time, depending on the police resistance. For now, it was time to kick things off.

We all sat in the back of the van, waiting to arrive downtown. Terra looked up. "So Kristen, are you ready for your first big job?" Kristen shifted in her seat. "I hope so. Jack and I have been scoping the place out for a few weeks; I think he's been training me pretty well too." Jack looked proud. "Just be careful, the first day is rather the day you shine, or the day you crash and burn." I said. Terra glared at me. "Andy!" Jack chuckled. "You'll do fine. You've been learning very well, you got some good old equipment; that's my Glock, Terra's Carbine, and Andy's vest." Her equipment was all hand-me-downs. Since our last job Terra had upgraded to an AK 47 in 5.56 and given Kristen her old rifle, Jack and I upgraded from no vest and a lightweight vest respectively to small ballistic vests, Kristen got my old one and Terra got one of the same made because they were smaller than us. Jack and I both kept the guns we used last time, although he wants a new rifle for next time. For us getting weapons was more expensive since we had to craft our own, to avoid them being traced, but it was well more worth it than buying from the black market.

The van stopped on the right of street, right in front of P.F Chang's and we got out. "I'm probably going to have to leave once the heat comes, but I'll be back after you guys have the loot." Terra turned to the driver. "Don't pull any anything when we need you. We're paying you to get us out this time, but last time you almost got us killed." The driver looked guilty and put his head down. "What does that mean?" Kristen asked. "He made a rookie mistake, but thank god nobody got hurt." Jack said. "Speaking of, how about you **don't** make a rookie mistake?" I said. She just nodded. "She's fine guys. She won't screw up." Jack said walking to the Apple Store across the street. Terra and I walked into P.F Chang's and they immediately noticed us carrying guns. "Everyone get down!" I yelled. "Nobody reach for your cellphones!" Terra said heading to the back room. I began digging through the cash register for money when I heard gunshots across the streets. "I got one! I got one!" Kristen yelled over the radio. "Was he armed?" Terra asked. "Yeah, he pulled a .38 on me." Jack said. I laughed. "Good job, kid." "See? I told you you'd be okay, are you feeling alright?" Jack said. "Yeah, I think so." Kristen laughed. "Alright the cashier locked himself in the back room, grab some laptops while I pick these two safes behind the counter." He said. How are you guys doing so far?" I kept stuffing my pockets with cash. "The cash register is loaded." "Good, good."

"The wires are buzzing; the police are on their way to your location now." Bain said. Terra came up front "You're empty handed?" I asked. She shook her head. "There's a safe it's drilling now. It will take a few minutes." She said. "Gold!" Jack yelled "What's that?" Terra asked. "There was a bar of gold in the safe." Jack said. I'm going to work on the second one…" "Legit?" I asked. "Legit." Bain laughed. "You bastard… No one's going to hungry tonight, guys. Good job." The first wave of police pulled up. They were just basic, no armor, squad cars, pistols and shotguns. "Jack, police!" Kristen said. "I've got your back." As much as I hated to admit it, she was a natural in a gunfight, not that I'd ever tell anyone that. I ran to the front of the Restaurant to help, the two of us pinned them between the crossfire and made quick work of the first responders. "Good job, kid." "Thanks!" she yelled back. I heard a bang and the door on the side of the restaurant burst open. "SWAT, coming in!" Terra yelled holding them back. "Run to the back room," She said. "I'll cover you!" I vaulted over a table and shoved a civilian who was getting off the ground. "Sit down, dude! Okay Terra, come to me." I said shooting at the doorway suppressing them long enough for Terra to get to the back room. "There's lots if cash in this safe, what do you have?" Jack yelled. "As many Mac Books as I can carry, but the police are coming on too thick!" Kristen said. "Alright, we've cleared the place out, moving to the convenience store next door." Jack said. "How are you getting going to get over there with this heat?" Terra said holding back the police alongside me. "Out through the window and through alley, in the side door." Kristen said. "Good. Do that, we're almost done here, we're waiting for the drill!" Just then I hear the drill stop and the safe behind us creak open. "Get that, I'll hold the cops!" I said. She rustled through the safe. "Chinese coins, sweet!" she said stuffing them in her bag.

"Shield!" She yelled. I dodged a narrow blow from the shield and stumbled backwards; even with the shotgun no matter the how close I couldn't take a shield from the front. Terra waited until the shield and I lined up perfect and then she ran and shot the shield holder in the back, killing him. "Push back to the side door they unlocked, we can get to Starbucks there." She said. "Alright." We put a little more agro into our fighting, using the salad bar and counters to flank our enemies and soon we were free to move over. "You guys should be good, but you might as well hit the last store while waiting for the escape van." Bain said. "Jack, Kristen, how are you guys doing?" "We're doing good. Jack's picking the safe in the convenience store now, we should- Shit, Jack!" she yelled then we heard very close gunfire over the radio. Bain sounded very nervous. "Jack, what's going on over there?" "I- fuck!" Another close gunshot followed by silence. "Kristen? Jack? Guys?" Terra yelled. We ran into to the alley between P.F Chang's and Starbucks and entered through a window on the side of the building. We saw a Bulldozer stomping around with a shotgun, inside the building across the street. We didn't know what that meant for Jack and Kristen. Then Jack jumped over the counter and behind a shelf, the Bulldozer tried to get a shot but was too slow. He tried to follow but Jack leaped around another corner using the shelves as a lifeline. "Kristen, do something!" He yelled, the Bulldozer getting closer. Kristen ran out of cover knocking a shelf over on him, but the Bulldozer just stumbled back and butted her with his shotgun. Jack jumped out and latched onto his back, pulling on the Bulldozer's faceplate. "Shoot him, shoot him now!" Jack yelled pulling part of his faceplate off. Kristen grabbed her Glock and shot, but the Bulldozer fell over backwards before I could see who she hit. "Kristen, what happened"I yelled. Kristen collapsed before I she could say anything and my hope died.

Guys, what's going? on" Bain asked. "Hello? Is everyone okay?" Terra and I just stared at each other, we were both too stunned to believe what we saw. Was it true? Were Jack and this new girl **both** dead just like that? Terra buried her face in her hands: I didn't know how we'd get past this. "Kristen? Kristen? Are you okay?" Jack yelled digging himself out of the remains of the shelf. "Jack?!" Yelled Terra. "I'm okay." He said bending over behind a shelf. "So are you, come on get up." He said hauling Kristen to her feet. She was very shaky and she could barely walk. "Come on, sit down behind the counter, and just cover me with this." He said handing her the Glock pistol. "The escape will be here soon." Kristen had sat down on the floor. "I'll look in the cash registers…" She said shakily. "Okay," Jack said. "Just don't push yourself." I sighed with relief. "What about you? Are you alright?" I asked. "Yeah. I'm going to saw this ATM, can you cover me?" He said unloading a power saw out of his bag. "Not with that shelf in the way, can you move it?" I asked. "Yeah." I could tell Jack's energy left him; he struggled just to push a shelf over. "You watch him, I'll check the cash registers in here?" Terra said. I nodded. Jack began sawing the ATM and police pressure began increasing again, it was still my only goal to protect him until he finished. "Hey guys, you ready to get out of there? I'm coming back around; I'll be out of sight so you can take an extra second if you need. The driver said. "Nope." Jack said. "Just get Kristen out of here." "Let's get us **all **out of here." Terra said. "I second that."  
I said. "Alright, I'm just a few seconds out." Terra had finished looting the registers, and came to help me keep the police off of Jack.

"Alright." He said tarring the front panel of the ATM and unloading cash. "I'm ready to go." "Okay," The driver said. "Act like you just come out the back of the convenience store, make a left and there'll be a door in the alley, I'm on the other side." Jack got up swaying from side to side. "Okay… Can you guys cover me one more time?" "Just go," Terra said. "We got you. He held Kristen and two bags of loot, and stumbled out the back door, while Terra and I held back the police. "Did you notice how he still grabbed the bags?" She laughed. "Without a doubt." "Alright I got two of you, where's the other two? The driver asked. "We're coming, you ready?" Terra looked at me. I nodded. We crossed the street shooting and managed to get into the convenience store, without getting shot. We ran out the back door and made to see a metal door with the van sitting on the other side. Terra half-tackled half-hugged "Thank god you're alright. She moved on to Kristen and I gave Jack a pat on the back. "Glad you're still here, brother." He laughed. "You got your moment last time, I get mine." I turned to Kristen. "Good job kid, you skipped the rookie mistake." Did I really?" She asked getting into the van

"Pat yourselves on the backs, Vlad got what he wanted, you pocketed a little extra, cash and nobody died." Bain said. "Good job. Good job." Vlad said. "Dmitri's network crumbles before his eyes. I will have more work you friends in the future."


	5. Bust a Cap In Someone's Ass

So today we learned two lessons, first there is always a good time and a bad time to bust a cap in someone's ass, today was a good time. Second, always be careful with sharp objects. This was probably our last job with Vlad for a while; he was climbing back up the criminal ladder quickly enough, and Dmitri had pretty much nothing left for us to terrorize. We were to go into the Good Time Club and find Dmitri "The Manager's" office and clean out his safe. Vlad didn't need his money so whatever we got from the safes went straight to us; he called it a "Parting gift." We were to try and walk through the front door into the club. Security was tight, so if that wasn't an option we would have to sneak in through the backdoor. Kristen and I walked up to the bouncer hoping for things to be easy. "You guys on the list?" "We should be." I said. He looked at list on his clipboard. "Name?" "Uh, Jerry?" He looked at me rather un-amused "There's no Jerry on the list." I sighed. "Robert?" He shook his head. "William?" He shook his head again. We managed to keep him distracted long enough for Terra and Andy to sneak around back. "What's a good girl's name?" I asked Kristen "Alexis." I turned back to the bouncer. "I'm Alexis." He shook his head. "I'm sorry Miss; you're still not on the list." "That's misses!" I snapped. He laughed. "Listen, you're a funny dude. If I let you in there and someone asks how you got in, say you snuck in the window? Okay?" I nodded. "Go on in." He said.

We walked in and Kristen patted be on the back. "Good job, Misses Alexis." "That's miss to you." I said in a prude voice. "I like nimrod. That's what Terra and I call you, behind your back." She said. I laughed. "It's a lot nicer than what she calls me to my face." The radio in my ear made a clicking noise. "Jack, we got in the back door, are you guys coming?" Terra asked "The guy let us in the front door," I said. "We're going to scout around." "Alright. Don't take too long, there's a security door and only you can set up the drill." The bartender flagged us down and offered us a free drink. "No thank you, I'm straight." I said. Kristen laughed. "What's with you?" I asked. "Nothing," She laughed. "You just **are** the kind of person who would be straight edge." I looked at her. "What does that mean?" "Nothing offensive. I don't drink either; I'm just saying you don't look like a drinker." I shrugged. "Getting fucked up isn't fun for me. I get sick." "Not even in moderation?" I shook my head. "Very rarely." She looked interested. "The when was the last time you drank?" It had been so long I had to think back. "I had a pint with Bain and Andy once, after we pulled off an armored truck heist. I puked…" She laughed again. "Fucking nerd…"

"Hey, I'm sorry to ruin you guys' date, but can you come back later without Andy and I hiding back here?" Terra said "We're coming." I said now hustling to the back; we slipped into the employees only area without being seen. "It's about fucking time." Andy said tapping an invisible watch. "Excuse me, princess. Got somewhere to be?" I muttered putting on my mask. Andy and Terra were ready for a fight; they had their armor on over their suits and were carrying Kristen's gun and mine. I still never got that upgrade I wanted; I was hoping to use the money from killing Dmitri to make a higher caliber weapon. "Once we're inside I'll start picking the safe, you guys grab any loose cash you can." I said Terra sighed. "Vlad said kill Dmitri if he was here, does that mean no extra money?" Andy shifted his weight. "Well, we can always offer to come back and kill him later." "True." I nodded "One step at a time." Kristen looked around. "Are we sure he's not here?" "Pretty sure, almost one-hundred percent." Andy said. "Well, damn."

I watched the drill timer tick away. "Y'know, Bain's got two contractors ready after this job. We'll be busy busy bees in the next few weeks." Terra looked interested in new work. "Did he say who?" "A cartel leader from Columbia, and a gubernatorial candidate." Andy scoffed. "Politicians, dirty as a freakin' cartel …" "He's a republican, if that makes you feel better." I said. He shook his head. "Now I know that the good guys are just as dirty." I laughed. "Its politics, bro. Everyone's dirty." Terra shuttered. "Ideology, fuck it." Kristen just kind of looked around in confusion. "You're a weird bunch." Just then one of Dmitri's friends came around the corner, and when he saw me he reached for his gun. Andy grabbed him putting a hand over his mouth, I pushed the gun out of his hand and kicked him in the stomach causing him to fall back against Andy. I felt dirty jumping a guy two-to-one but this was the Russian Mob, they wouldn't show any remorse ganging up on me. Andy had his forearm wrapped around the guy's throat and he kicked for a few seconds before he passed out. "You know, this place is a goldmine when it comes to loose cash. If we had two someones with no armor and guns small enough to conceal, we could pick up some extra loot…" Andy said. I looked at Kristen. "Huh… It seems like we do, now don't we?" The girls both looked like they were against the idea. "No." Terra said. "It's a no-go. We need you here to start the drill up if it goes down, and we can't have Kristen going out there alone with Russian Mobsters pissing around." "You can change the fuel can," I said. "It's just like changing the propane in a camp stove. Getting it set up is the hard part." Andy agreed with me. "Yeah besides, if you don't want Kristen out there I'll strip my armor and go instead." Kristen shook her head. "That doesn't change the fact that there are still armed guards out there, plus the door is right next to the bar, how are you going to back in here without getting seen?" "Leave it to us." I said.

So with less than an ecstatic response from the ladies, we left our masks and decided to go back out to the club and try to get some cash. "Be a slut." Andy said pointing to the bar. "Cash registers…" I said. There was only one bartender and nobody at the bar because everyone else was on the dance floor or at their seats. I walked up to the bar, time to get my charm on. "Hi there." I smiled. She smiled back. "Hey, change your mind about that free drink?" I leaned against the counter. "Maybe..." "I thought you were straight edge?" She asked. I shook my head. "That girl was though, but she wasn't interested." She giggled. "Shame, but you're here now. What would you like?" "Do you have any Presidente?" I asked. Her brow furrowed as she looked under the counter. "I haven't seen any of that in a long time, isn't it from the Netherlands?" I nodded. "Could you be a dear, and check in the back please?" She sighed. "I guess I could for you, Hon." I will commend the lady, she was trying to make a hell of a sale to someone who doesn't drink alcohol… while she went into the kitchen, I slipped behind the counter and ran through the cash registers and grabbed what cash I could, luckily you couldn't hear the noise over the music. She came back out surprisingly enough, with a bottle of Presidente. "The last one, just for you. One's all you need; we don't need you getting too tipsy." I laughed. "That's for sure; I still need to work tonight." It was kind of awkward; I haven't even bought a beer in a long time. "That reminds me, I have more money than I know what to do with. Do you know where I might be able to spend it in here?" "There are probably a few hookers in the alley next to the building." She laughed. "In all seriousness though, there is a bar on the top floor on the balcony nice view, I wish I could work out there tonight, or if you're a gambler, than the bosses friends are playing poker behind the kitchen. Be careful though, those guys are bad news. There's also dry cleaning by the front door, if you really want to blow money." I took a few sips of my beer. "I could always use some dry cleaning!" I yelled over the music.

I bumped into Andy by chance in the crowd. "Hey, did you get anything?" He asked. "And are you drinking beer?" Yes, and ugh yes!" I said handing him the beer. "Drink this crap! I did get $4,000 from the bar though, and I found out about another bar upstairs on the balcony, dry cleaning by the door, and a poker game full of bad guys in the back room!" "Let's skip the bad guys playing poker!" He said. "I got the bar on the second floor, go lift the dry cleaners!" I nodded. "Meet back in the employees only room!" He nodded and we went our separate ways. I approached the dry cleaning counter and was greeted by an old Chinese man. "Hello. How may I help you?" He said with a perky tone. "Hello, I was told my shirt would be ready by tonight?" I asked. "What your shirt? He yelled. "It's a white button up shirt, with long sleeves." He looked around and grabbed a suit jacket off the hanger. "This your shirt?" He said. "No. white shirt, cotton, buttons!" I said. "This not your shirt?" I shook my head "This all I have shirt, your shirt not here!" I looked at his name tag, his name was Pei Lin. "I brought my shirt to Chen Lin; Chen Lin said my shirt would be ready tonight." He put the jacket back on the hanger. "Chen Lin my son! Chen Lin not here!" "Chen Lin was here with my shirt!" I said. "Chen Lin no here! Your shirt no here! I go look for your shirt anyway, you stay!" He yelled heading back to the night club. I snuck behind the counter and raided the cash register, apparently the dry cleaning had been booming tonight, unless Dmitri was a generous employer like me, who gave raises when he did something illegal. I guess we were ready to go back with we had and wait for the drill to get us into the office; I began making my way back.

I got back before Andy and the door to Dmitri's office was open. "Praise Jesus, the door's open, we got money, and I had three sips of a beer!" "Shh!" Terra and Kristen both whispered. "There's a tango in the office, be hush." Terra whispered. "Where's Andy?" Kristen whispered. I peeked around the corner to make sure nobody was close by. "He went to hit the bar upstairs." I said. "He'll be here any minute." Speak of the devil, Andy sneaked in just in time with a bag over his shoulder. "Booyah, guess who found $8,000 in cash?" He whispered. "Guess who got access to the office?" Kristen said smugly. "The guy who planted the drill on the door?" I asked. "Hey, we changed the fuel can twice." Terra said. "Anyways, I'd like to get out of here soon." Andy said. As Andy and I sneaked into the office there was a table, a seat and a set of stairs leading up to the office. I grabbed a wad of cash off the table; it felt like it was around $1,300 just by the weight. We snuck up the stairs and there were two unarmed civilians. A woman and a dude in a suit who must have been Dmitri. Andy and I pointed our suppressed pistols at them. "Move an inch and we'll blow both your brains out and no one will even hear you scream." Andy said hopefully deterring them from making a move. Dmitri's office was above the main floor of the club, with large glass window. Everyone could easily see us if we stood there, I don't know how we didn't see Dmitri from bellow. Andy pushed him into a corner where no one could see him. "Well isn't this a surprise? We get our extra money after all." I looked at Dmitri and then his women friend as I held her still. "Please… Don't hurt him… Kill me instead." She said. I sighed heavily. "Guys, I don't think we can do this." I said unable to go through with this.

"What are you talking about? This is why we're here. Steal the money, kill Dmitri." Kristen said. "He's an unarmed man, pleading for his life." Terra said. "It's sick." I knew Andy didn't want to fight over this; he was just worried what Vlad would do. "What do we tell Vlad? This is the guy who betrayed him and sent him to prison. Plus he's a fucking pyscho." I looked at Dmitri. "We tell him he wasn't here. You, if I let you and your girlfriend go, you didn't know about the robbery. For your sake and mine, don't go on the news, don't go on the radio, anything like that. You. Weren't. Here. You got it?" I said. Dmitri nodded. "Yes. Yes. I swear." "Her either." I said pointing to his friend. "Okay." I looked around, I had to get working on this safe before too long. "Andy watch Dmitri, Terra watch the girl, Kristen grab all the cash in his desk. I turned to begin working on the safe, and in a flash Dmitri rushed me. In the heat of the moment I stepped back and slammed him, (Never a good move in CQC) I bashed his face with my elbow and Kristen shot an unsuppressed gun at Dmitri killing him. Panic began in the club and everyone was screaming. "What did you do that for?" I said. Kristen looked panicked. "He stabbed you, what the hell else was I supposed to do?!" She screamed "He didn't-" Suddenly I felt very light headed and I dropped to my knees

I put my hand on my back and was covered in blood; apparently in the heat of the moment I didn't realize Dmitri tried to slit my kidney with a letter opener. The pain wasn't too much for me to walk but when I was standing up I felt very light headed. Dmitri's girlfriend started screaming when he got shot and hadn't stopped since. "Could you shut the fuck up?" I yelled. "Terra lifted my shirt. "He's bleeding. Kristen, tie the girl down. Andy go to the downstairs bathroom, look for a first aid kit." She rubbed my neck and the side of my head. "How are you feeling, are you okay?" She said softly. "I'm fine." I grunted. "While they're doing that walk me to the safe." "Don't push yourself too hard." She said half-walking me half-dragging me to the safe. She set me down in front of the safe, thankfully my hands still worked I began on the lock. Dmitri's girlfriend looked at me. "Bleed you fucking pig! You killed a man for money; you deserve to die on this floor!" Kristen kicked her onto her back effectively silencing her. Terra kept rubbing my back lightly. "Shh… Just focus on the lock." She said softly. Andy came back into the room with the first aid kit. "They cleared most of the good stuff out. I got rags, bandages, tape, and a bottle of whiskey." Terra sighed looking at my wound. "No Russian vodka?" Andy cursed. "I had a bottle of that too, but it got dropped. I'm sorry guys…" "It's alright. We really needed a suturing kit, to close this wound up." She poured the whiskey over the rag. "This is about %40-55 pure alcohol. This is going to hurt, a lot Jack." I fought with a loose pin on the safe, I kept pushing it up and it fell back down instead of clicking. "Lay it on me." I said struggling with safe.

That wasn't my only struggle. When Terra had said it's going to hurt a lot. **It hurt. A lot.** I laid my face down on the safe, and it burned so bad I thought I might scream, luckily for me I'm very pain tolerant and it was over before I knew it. She put bandages over the wound and taped them on, but that would only stop the bleeding temporarily, we needed to get this safe open and get out. "Guys, cops." Andy said. Once the gun had gone off the music had gone off too which was a win. "Almost there..." I said trying to pick the lock quickly. Andy and Terra stood in the window shooting at the SWAT forces that came into the club, Kristen had her hand on my back. "Terra stepped back dodging s bullet, "Kristen go watch the door at the bottom of the stair, Andy and I will try to thin them out before they get close." Sooner or later the cops would realize that the back door let straight into the room outside Dmitri's office. I cringed slightly, the pain was getting harder to ignore. "Are you okay?" Terra asked. I nodded. "Just get the safe open, and we can get you out." Andy said. "Screw you, I'm fine." I panted, opening the safe sure was taking a lot of breath out of me, I tried not to think about air. "Safe's open!" I shouted. I tried bagging up the cash from the safe but my hands were shaking worse than usual. "Let us worry about that, can you stand up?" Terra asked. I slowly pulled myself to my feet.

"Kristen, time to go!" I called downstairs. She came running up the stairs. "How are you?" She asked. "Get the money." I growled trying to ignore the pain. Everyone had a bag except for me, and I was barely able to hold myself up. When we came out of the employees only area we had to cross the dance floor to the door, and get across the street to the van. Vlad only required we got three bags worth of money, but I wanted the fourth. Everyone managed to shoot out way to the door, and we crouched down in the doorway. The alley with the van was on the other side of the road. "We're going to do like the bank heist," Andy told us. "Kristen and Terra you cross the road while I cover you, and then you cover us and I'll get Jack across." "Alright!" Said one or the other, everyone's voiced were starting to fade into the background, and the world was bleeding red. Andy began shooting at the police lined up and down the road while the girls ran with their heads down; they made it to the other side. "You ready, brother?" I panted just watching them run. "Yeah…" Andy grabbed me with one arm, holding the money with other arm and half-ran half-dragged me across the street, we made it without getting shot. I stumbled and almost dropped to my knees, but I recovered. We went through the gate and down to the alley where the van was parked. They threw the money in the back. "We're good to go!" Terra said. "No…" I panted supporting myself on the side of the van. "I want the rest"

"What? You can't even walk, there are cops everywhere, and it's all the way back there? Are you mad?" She said. I began trudging back down the alley by myself. "Yes… But I want that money." Andy stopped me. "Dude, you're going to die." "I want it." I repeated. Nothing was going to stop me from getting this last bag of money. "I'll go with him." Andy said. Terra's glare could cut you like a knife, I remember looking at here and thinking "If I was able to fight you right now I would." She still protested. "Jack's wounded, I'll go." "I'm going." I said. "You two stay," Andy cut in. Jack and I are going to need cover to get across the street." The driver of the van stuck his head out the window. "Are we ready to go or what?" He said. "One more run," Terra said. "Stay put." He just looked at us like we were crazy, which I guess we were. Andy grabbed me and dragged me across the street again while the girls suppressed the police. Everything had gone from bright red to grey and dismal. I could reach out touch something, but it would look like it was five feet away. "I'll stay here, get the last bag…" I said propping myself against the dry cleaning counter. Andy looked at me. "You're fucking crazy, J. Just stay here." He said rushing back to Dmitri's office. Everything was blurry and I stumbled multiple times into wall, the sounds of gunshots right outside the door sounded so distant. I swayed trying to keep my balance when a hand hit me trying to get my attention, I nearly fell. "J, did you hear me?" Andy's face and his voice were so distant but I felt like they were right in front of me. "No… Uh… What- what did you say?" I slurred. He responded with a bunch of blurred moans and echoes, but he pointed at the bag he was carrying so I assumed he had the money. He grabbed my shirt and pulled me to the door, I hit a wall while walking and fell flat onto my back.

He was trying to pull me to my feet but it was no use, finally he dropped the bag at my feet. He was talking a lot but I couldn't understand him, but he pointed at me, then to the bag, and back. Hoping that I was following him, I wrapped my hands around the strap of the bag, he smiled and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and began dragging me. By this point my hearing was completely gone and everything was just a roaring in my ears. When we made it to the sidewalk on the other side my strength gave out and I lost the bag. I felt another set of hands grabbing on to me, and I had Terra and Andy both dragging me while Kristen fought off the cops. Slowly, as we got closer to safety I saw my money getting farther and farther away down the alley. The suddenly my vision went black.


	6. The Wild Ride Ahead

AN: Short chapter.

Let's just say that our trip to the club was a wild ride, but there were even worse ones ahead. I woke up on a cot in the safe house behind the Laundro-Mart, home sweet home. My side hurt so much, and I was hooked up to a bunch IVs and other things I've seen on a doctor show, that I didn't know what they did. Terra and Andy were sitting at the coffee table eating cereal and counting money while Kristen was right by my side. "Oh thank God…" She said wrapping her arms around me. I rubbed her back. "Hey, hey, It's alright, I'm all good." I said. Andy and Terra put down their money and came to my side. "Barely. You were all but dead when we brought you in here." Andy said. I laughed. "That's not nice." Terra came close and hugged me too. "No, seriously. You were cold, white, and your heart stopped beating for six seconds straight." She said. Just the thought of myself laying here with my heart not beating was a really terrifying thought. "Oh, show him his present." She added.

Kristen handed me a small white envelope, with sharpie on the front that just said "JACK only." "You guys didn't open it?" Everyone shook their heads. "Jack only." Andy said. "C'mon, open it up." Kristen added. I opened it inside was a handwritten letter, it said. "Dear Jack, you have helped me regain much I have lost. Your unwavering loyalty to me will not go unrewarded. For the four dangerous jobs you have done for me I will give you four rewards; money, information, protection, and death Be warned, the favors will be there for the rest of your life, but you would be smart to save these favors until your need for them becomes dire… Good wishes on your on you recovery, your friend Vladimir Kozak." I chuckled and taped the envelope shut. "Terra could you place this on my safe?" She took the envelope and place on top of the safe. "What was it?" She asked. "A get-well/thank you card from Vlad." I said. "Oh! Your other present." Andy said. He hefted a black duffle bag full of cash onto the table. "Cool, how much do I get out of here?" I asked. "The whole thing." He said. "No… There are three bags, we split it." I said. "No… There are four bags, one for each." He said slowly. "I don't- There were…" Everybody had a big grin. Then I realized there three bags of cash on the coffee table **plus **this one. "What the fuck?" I asked. "How in the hell did you guys get this?" I yelled.

"Well, after Andy and I got you to the van, Kristen ran back out there and got it." Terra said. I starred at her in disbelief. "Well, I thought if you were going to die over this thing we might as well actually **get **it." She said. My phone began ringing on the table next to me. "Hello?" I said. "Hey, you're awake." Bain said. "Glad to see you're still kicking bro. Tell me, was it really worth it for $5,000?" I laughed it would have been worth $500. Money's money dude." "Money is money." He agreed." Well you better get rested up, because we're ready to make some more money soon. Peace, bro."


	7. Back in the Saddle (Watch Dogs Part 1)

"We're back in the saddle again." Jack said preparing for our first job since his injury. "Yeah, well just be careful not to push yourself too hard?" I asked. Jack had always been a fighter and we were all worried that he was pushing his recovery too hard, for a while but hopefully he was ready to get back to work now. "Careful is my middle name." He said cleaning his new .308 Winchester he crafted with the money from the nightclub hit; he had a modern EBR body and a military style red dot sight on it. "The man with many middle names." Kristen said. "The man with a very bad stab wound." I added. Jack laughed. "Get stabbed in the near-kidney area one time and nobody ever lets it go…" He said. "We're just looking out for you, brother." Andy said. "And we're not taking any chances this time; everyone's wearing some sort of armor." Jack sighed. "Yes, mom." He leaned against the table. "Listen up everyone; our new contact, Hector's got a truck of cocaine moving from the downtown D.C area to the harbor. These trucks have been getting busted, this time we will be in the back of the truck with the coke in case the police pull Hector's guy over. We will hold off the police and protect the coke until a pickup vehicle comes for it, then we load up the coke and wait for our escape vehicle, the escape vehicle to take us to the harbor where we meet the pickup vehicle and load the product onto a boat which will go back to Hector's guys outside the city. Any questions?" Kristen shifted. "What kind of resistance are we looking at if things go loud?" "Well 'if' is a keyword." Jack said. "We may not get any at all, but if we do it could be anything from two buddy cops in a squad car, to riot shields, bulldozers, and the U.S army, although the ladder hopefully won't happen. Anything else?" There was no response, we were ready to get this job over with; I could already tell there would be more shooting than I was hoping for. We loaded into the back of the truck; there were nine bags of cocaine and four of us, if things got really bad moving the coke could be a problem.

Most of the ride was quiet. We stood in the back of the truck with the coke and the AC on. I kept my AK close until I heard the police pulling us over. "Godamn, they're everywhere. I'm getting you a driver, right now." Bain said, as the truck pulled over shifting to the side of the road. "We know you're in there, come out with your hands in the air, you and any passengers!" The police called. "How many?" Andy asked. Bain let out an aggravated sigh. "Twenty as least. SWAT, local police, and riot shields, they must one-hundred percent sure of what's in there." "Well they definitely don't know we're here yet." Jack said. The blades of a power saw cut through the back of the truck like a can opener. "Get it open!" A cop yelled. There were nine bags of coke all together, being $100,000 a piece, we could all only carry one bag at a time, so we would have to leave the other five bags in the truck, and once we found a place to stash the coke we could carry it all over. "Where do we go once the doors are open?" Jack said, as we quickly ran out of time. "Just stay in the truck, I'll find you guys somewhere to take cover." Bain said. The door came open and we were looking the police straight in the eye, Jack and Andy who were standing in the front opened fire. Behind Andy was Jack, behind Jack was me, and behind me was Kristen. Kristen and I couldn't shoot so we pretty much just shielded the coke with our bodies. There were riot cops and SWAT teams right in front of us; this was already looking like a bad situation.

"Get out of the truck and run to the steps to the north; they'll take you to cover where you can let the coke down." We weren't the brightest that was for sure. We all dashed out of the truck into different directions Andy and I found **a **set of stairs, I didn't know it was the right ones or not but we were safe there. We dropped our bags and ducked behind a stack of pvc pipes, we noticed a room on our right that led to the roof of another building. There was a closed door between the room and the roof of the next building, I hoped we didn't need to use that way. I spotted Kristen and Jack running across said rooftop but instead of heading into the room they went up the stairs, to the next level of the roof. "The north, you guys. You were going north at first, but now you're going south again..." Bain said. "No, this is good." Jack said. "I can thin them out from here, and stop them from rushing straight at Andy and Terra. Kristen, watch the steps behind us." I watched jack pick them off one by one from the catwalk on top of the roof, but they were starting to go for the truck. "The coke!" I said. "We have to go get it." "I can cover you, just go to the truck." Jack said, suppressing the police. Andy and I ran for the truck and he took cover behind a crate, about five feet from the truck. The only way to get to the truck was to run straight to the truck in the open, and I sure didn't want to die that much.

"I'll get back to the truck and throw you the bags, you run them to cover." He said. "Got you." "BOOM!" Jack yelled. "You see that? I shot his helmet right off." "Cover me!" Andy said as he ran to the truck, he dove into the back narrowly dodging a bullet. "I got the first bag!" He yelled. "Throw it!" I said. He threw the bag pretty well; I caught it out of the air and started running back to our cover at the top of the stairs with it. "That's five bags, including Jack and Kristen's." I said. "I'm coming back for more." I managed to run back to the crate and conveniently enough, there was a bag of coke sitting behind the crate. I grabbed it and ran back. "Thanks mate, six bags." I said. "I'm reloading, last clip guys!" Jack said. Andy threw me the next bag and I took number seven back to our "Safe place." I met Andy back at the crate and caught bag number eight. "Wait, I'm going to throw the last bag to you and cross." He said. "Do it!" Andy went to throw the final bag and one of the enemies got really luck and almost shot Andy's arm off, the bag landed about halfway in between him and I. "I'll the grab the bag on the way across, cover me." I began shooting blindly from cover long enough to keep the cops suppressed, Andy crossed the gap and grabbed the bag, and we ran the last two to safety and stayed there. Andy and I had gotten seven bags between the two of us, and Jack and Kristen were carrying numbers eight and nine.

"Hey guys, hang in there. Your pickup for the coke will be there in two minutes" Bain said, as the police trained their fire less towards Andy and me, and more towards Jack. "Whoa!" He yelled ducking behind the railing. "Are you okay? Andy asked, firing back at the police. "I'm out of ammo, there's nothing I can do for you guys!" He called. Of course, yours truly (Not Jack this time.) was carrying the ammo bag. "Do you guys need some rounds?" I asked. "We won't be able to cover you until-" "Look out!" Kristen interrupted." I heard gunshots extremely close to their radios then silence, which was not a good sign. "Are you guys okay?!" I panicked. "Get up here, now!" Jack yelled I ran from the stairs to this room I had seen before. I began picking the metal door franticly, until I heard loud click and my pick tensed up. I went to pull it out and the pick snapped. "There's polymer strips inside these doors." I yelled. "Back up." Andy said pushing me back. He angled his shotgun forty-five degrees at the lock of the door and fired blowing the lock off, we met another door, this one made of cheap wood on the other side I angled my foot at some similar degree kicking it open. Andy and I almost ran through the door until we were met by SWAT on the other side. Andy and I shot at them from one side while Kristen shot from the top of the stairs and we made short work of their problem together. "Ammo delivery?" I asked arriving at the top of the stairs.

"Good to see you guys." Jack said, unloading spare ammo out of the bag on my shoulder. "The pickup truck is here," Bain said. "On the other side of the catwalk from you guys." "Alright, load what you have into the truck, we'll bring you more." Andy said. Him and I raced back to out "Safe zone" to retrieve two more bags, we went back and handed them to Jack and Kristen and they repeatedly ran them across the catwalk and threw them over the railing. We managed to load all nine bags into the truck this way and the truck left. "The coke has gone from one truck to the other." Jack said. "Escape truck will be there in five, just hold out there, guys." Said Bain. We didn't really have a choice. Jack and I stayed on the catwalk trying to narrow the enemies down while Andy and Kristen stopped the stragglers from trying to get behind us. Jack and I tried to make it a contest to see who could get more headshots, but it was unfair as he was using .308 semi-automatic while I had a fully-automatic in 5.45. "The escape driver will be coming from the other end of the street, you need to protect him or else he'll get shot to hell." Bain said. "We can handle that." Jack said, obviously trying to steal my kills. "Just tell him to get here." "You can tell him yourself, I'll patch him in." "Driver here." He said. "Shit's getting real here, where are you?" Andy asked. "I just ran a red light, I'm right here." He said. "You two go, Jack and I will meet you at the car. We'll cover your move and vice-versa." I said. "Alright." Andy said. "Kristen, let's go." They got back onto the street and made break for it.

"Just go, don't stop for anything." I yelled. Suddenly a bright red light was shining straight in my eye, I stumbled back because I couldn't see and Jack tackled me. "Sniper!" He said, landing in top of me. I kept my head down, behind the rail. "Thanks, dude." "We're at the evac zone, get moving guys!" Kristen yelled. Jack and I threw our guns over our backs and ran. We ran down the first set of steps and to the second when the red SUV came in full speed. "I need cover!" He yelled. "Get here!" Andy called to us. Jack and I ran when a sniper shot rang out across the empty street and through the windshield. "Fuck the drive's dead!" Andy yelled. "We need another way out." I said. Jack and I were in the second worst place possible on the lower rooftop; Andy and Kristen were in the **worst** standing in the street, behind the SUV. "I'll try to get a helicopter." Bain said. "Hang tight." "Do we have any other options there?" I asked trying to protect Andy and Kristen in the street. "I got you, Terra." He said, but I didn't feel any relief yet. "New plan." Jack said. "Get back here guys, we'll all move together." Andy and Kristen ran back and ducked on the opposite side of the truck from us. "Run there!" Andy yelled. They both took off from the truck up to the steps where Andy and I had moved the coke, and came out behind us.

"I'm coming in; you should be able to see me now." The chopper pilot called. The chopper was hovering over the upper-roof where Jack and I had stood before. Andy ran up next to us. "You girls go, we'll hold them off." He said. The police were getting really aggressive and were right up our asses, I didn't want to leave them. "You'll be right behind us?" I asked. "Terra, go!" Jack said, not taking his eye off the cops while he shot back. Kristen and I ran up to the chopper and hopped into the back, we began shooting enough to protect Jack and Andy. They came running up the stairs and Jack jumped in the chopper first and pulled Andy in afterwards. "Go, go, go!" Jack yelled. The chopper took off, and was headed to the harbor; our day wasn't even over yet. "A quarter of your payment has been installed into your accounts," Bain said. "Get to the harbor and finish the job to get you guys." Said Bain. We only had one more fight and we'd get paid. Still, that was one too many for me.


	8. Kicking the Hornet (Watch Dogs Part 2)

We had to finish what we started; we were really stirring the hornet's nest on this one, but it didn't matter. We had followed the pickup truck to the harbor and were to unload the coke in Hector's guy's boat. We followed the pickup truck in silence for a while, until the police had shot the driver and the truck crashed into a pole outside the harbor. "Dammit," Jack said. "The driver just bit it." The helicopter pulled around the back of the harbor and landed. "Okay. Alex, get out of there, I'll call you back once they're ready for pickup. You guys need to move. Law enforcement will be all over that coke. Go!" Bain yelled. We all jumped out of the helicopter, Jack and Andy were going to cut through the parking lot to the street where the truck crashed and move the coke to use, and then Terra and I would move it to the warehouse while we wait for the boat. "We already know police presence will be heavy, do we have any backup?" Andy asked. "I got you guys a sniper outside of the AO, you're alright." "Greta?" Jack asked. "No, the one you guys like." "Good" Jack said. "I feel safer around Gage anyways." Terra and I stopped at the fence separating the parking lot from the street and ambushed the police who trying to take the coke. "Take this!" Jack yelled, throwing the first bag of coke over the fence to me. Andy grabbed a second bag and threw it to Terra and we ran to the warehouse with it.

"You need to let the boat driver know you're ready to go, turn on the flood lights outside the harbor." Bain instructed. Terra and I loaded the two bags of coke onto the table and I flipped the circuit breaker for the flood lights. "Guys, we're coming out for more bags!" I called as we came back out into the parking lot; the noise of gunshots had really began to pick up. "Good. We can't hold this position long!" Andy yelled, him and Jack were behind the wrecked pickup truck, shooting at the police. "Two more bags!" Terra yelled, as we ran back up to the fence, Andy's first throw was cut off when a gunshot came far too close to the truck and made him drop the bag. "Are you okay?" I yelled. He scuttled back. "Too fuckin' close!" Jack said. "Did you guys get the bag?" "No, it just bounced off the fence." Terra said, trying to cover their position. Jack grabbed the bag again and made it over the fence. My radio buzzed. "This is the pickup boat: I'm coming to you as we speak. Terra grabbed the bag and ran back to the warehouse to load the bag up. The guys managed to get another bag to me. As the fight raged on I ran back to warehouse and met Terra halfway. "Another one!" I yelled, throwing her the bag. "I'm good, go!" She called back, heading for the warehouse once again. I ran back to the guys: there was already another bag on my side of the fence; I threw it to Terra who was right behind me. Jack threw me another bag and I followed. "Stay here." She said. "We got the rest, just guard all of this." "Bu-" Terra didn't even wait for my response before she took off, I was left protecting $600,000 worth of cocaine from angry police.

I could hear **much **louder gunshots from what sounded like a sniper rifle. "I'm here guys; just get to the warehouse and hold up." This was a gruff and un-familiar voice to me. Andy laughed. "Where you been, wheelie? We kind of needed you." "Relax. I'm here now." The gruff voice said. Jack Terra and Andy came rushing back into the warehouse, the guys threw their bags down on the table in an un-organized manner. "I'm really feeling the need to fix that." Terra said, showing her OCD side. "I'll be coming in at dock seven in one minute, under the crane." Said the boat driver. Dock seven would be out the back door and to the left, on the other side of a bunch of shipping containers. "Just go." Jack said. We had to shoot at the occasional straggler who made it into the warehouse, but the sniper mostly kept the cops back before they could get inside. He laughed. "This is just like Afghanistan, right Jack?" The Afghanistan remark really stood out to me. Was that a joke or was Jack really in Afghanistan? I'd feel really stupid if I didn't know that. "Kind of…" Jack said. "The pay wasn't this good though." We had sat in the warehouse and held the police back for what felt like a while. "Alright guys. I'm coming in at dock seven." Jack and Andy took point with us following closely behind. They both loaded a bag into the boat and Terra and I passed them the other two. "That's enough." The driver said. "I'll take this back; when I get back have the next set ready." Andy directed us back to the warehouse to wait. "Copy!" We got back to the warehouse and settled in for the next assault wave. "You guys got all you need, I'm calling Alex now. You can leave when he gets here or you can go for the rest of the bags." Bain said. "Group vote:" Jack said. "Stay for at least for at least eight bags?" I looked around. "Let's do it" Andy said. "Agreed" Terra said. The all looked to me. "Yeah, sure..." I agreed.

"Alright, I'm here when you guys are ready to get the hell out," Alex said. "I'll maintain holding pattern outside the harbor." We waited for Gage to warn us the boat was coming back. "Your guy's here; get on it." He said. We each moved one bag back to the boat. While the guys loaded the coke into the boat Terra and I had to watch very closely and kill a few cops who were getting too close. "I'm glad a brought a lot of shells." Gage said, picking off another cop from an unseen vantage point. "Alright. I'll be back for the last bag in a few." The driver said, speeding away in the boat. "That's double what you guys need. You can stay or you can go." Bain said. "There's just one more." Andy said. "Hector would be **very **happy if we got all nine bags without a problem." "For sure. Is it worth it though? The police are not letting up." Jack warned. "I think so." Terra said. I just kind of watched them make up their minds. Andy turned towards me. "Your call, Kristen." "What? Uh…" I never made the group decisions and **this** was why. "Can you just decide soon?" Gage asked. "I'm running out of bullets." Jack laughed. "Yeah guys, handicap accessible cars are not as fast of getaway vehicles." Gage laughed. "Piss off, kid." I looked around. "You know what? Fuck it, let's do it." I said. Andy just smiled. "Good girl."

We held up on the top floor of the warehouse, by the helicopter and waited for the boat. I carried the last bag of coke over my shoulder, I'm not sure if that would protect me or make me a target. Either way it was my choice to stay here, so it was fair. "I'm halfway there, just be ready to finish this." Said the driver. "Oh, I was ready to finish this before it even started." Terra said. We stood and waited, holding back the police and I had plenty of time to think. I thought I should move the last bag myself, considering I was the one who made the decision to stay. I turned to face everyone else. "You guys stay by the chopper. I want to do this." I said. Everyone just looked at me like I had lost my mind, but ultimately they looked to Jack. Jack was the only reason I was here, he trained me and besides Bain and our contractors Jack was really the only one with the authority to overrule me. "Cool. Gage will be watching you, you can trust him." He said. I nodded my head. "I don't really care who does it, but I need the rest of the coke to make the big man happy. Could you hurry please?" The driver said, as he pulled the boat into dock seven.

Everybody else got into the chopper and I took the last bag and ran for dock seven. The police were held back by the combination of me at close range with and M4, Jack at a medium range with a .308, and Gage at a long range with a sniper rifle. I had just went behind the shipping containers where I was out of both Gage and Jack's line of sight and the radio started breaking up and making an obnoxious screeching noise in my ear. "What the fuck?!" I yelled "Spook. Get out of there, now!" Andy said, his mic breaking up "What?" I asked "It's a Cloaker! Gage, find it before it gets close!" Jack yelled "What is a fucking Cloaker?!" I asked. "Where is it?" Gage asked. "Ten O'clock! By the warehouse! Fucking shoot him!" Jack's radio had cut off and I couldn't hear him anymore. "Jack? Jack?!" I yelled. "Kristen, he's going to jam your radio! Drop the bag and get back into my line of site, you can't let him get close!" Gage yelled, right before his mic cut out. "Where are you?" I asked. I panicked and then I saw him, this "Cloaker." He was relatively thin and wearing night vision goggles, I hadn't realized it but the Cloaker was closing in on me at un-real speed. It wouldn't be long until we were nose-to-nose, I raised my gun to shoot and he actually jumped up and ran **along** the wall he had kicked me straight in the middle of the face, and a kick from such a small guy felt being hit by a freight train. I collapsed onto the ground and my bag had slid right into the water. My vision was blurry and I couldn't clearly see what was happening, but the Cloaker was laughing and it looked like was T-bagging me. Jack came out of nowhere and ran the Cloaker through with a knife. He pulled me to my feet. "Time to go." He said, wiping blood from under my nose. "I dropped a bag…" "We got eight." He said. "And I'm sure as hell not going swimming for it, neither are you."

We ran back to the chopper on top of the warehouse and Alex seemed happy to be leaving. "I'll get Hector on the phone." Bain said. Jack sat across from me and tilted my head forward. "Skinny packs a mean roundhouse, huh?" I nodded. "Bain tells me you secured eight bags, with SWAT teams and Cloakers pursuing you?" Said Hector. "That alone, plus your determination to my cause proves I chose the right people for the job. Very good, I will be in touch" He said. "That could have been worse, we got eight bags and Kristen now knows what a Cloaker is." Bain said. "Yeah, and Kristen can go her whole life without seeing another one again." I added. Bain just laughed. "That's very unlikely, good work either way guys."


End file.
